With social media in everyone’s pocket these days, it seems like everybody with a smartphone wants to be in journalism. From riots to protests to presidential stump speeches and neighbors attacking each other with machetes over dog poop (thanks, Florida) journalism has become even more “real time” than on TV. This shift continues to stymie many “traditional” news outlets. How can they take the time to investigate and accurately report breaking news when Joe Sixpack and Janie Boxedwine already posted it on Facebook and Periscope?
It’s a question traditional news outlets will continue to wrestle with simply because they already have so much invested in the Old Way of Doing The News. That leaves the door wide open for new players to enter the game. Brands with little to nothing devoted to sets and talent and other tropes expected of network news. At least, that’s Reed Hastings’ story … and, so far, he’s sticking to it.
The Netflix CEO flirted with the idea of journalism in the past, and now he’s gone so far as to buy it dinner. In an interview with Variety, Hastings said he wants his streaming service to start providing subscribers with news programming.
That doesn’t mean Netflix is planning to crank out nightly news stories covering stories across politics, sports, and current events. Instead, Hastings specifically mentioned VICE, the hit HBO documentary series turned news outlet, which produces issue-related shows similar to 60 Minutes … but retooled for modern viewers.
That’s just a sketch, though. There’s no clear indication yet exactly what form a Netflix-produced news product would resemble. The organization chose Chelsea Handler to enter the world of the talk show … with mixed results. Edgy? Sure, but not necessarily the right market for the typical talk show viewer.
News is another animal altogether. It can take many forms – and many successful forms at that. Innovation tends to run in cycles. When CNN introduced the political “discussion” program in the mid-80s, many critics didn’t see the value in what would become the most common way people get their news. Forget straight news, “discussion” rules. Now, “issues” news is evolving into a quasi-documentary style with full-length programming being teased by three or five-minute clips on YouTube.
Instead of the daily grind, these programs focus on a few related issues. VICE has proven this format to be a popular one, but the market is wide open for a competing brand. Netflix may be poised to be the best candidate taking advantage of this opportunity.
